[In Vin Diesel voice] I don’t have friends, I got family
Warner Bros. Pictures
“Unforgiven” is a somber, contemplative revisionist Western that takes place in small-town Wyoming and the open plains of Kansas circa 1881. Why then did Clint Eastwood and Jack N. Green shoot the picture in Alberta? Well, it’s because Canada was willing to let the duo skirt the rules put in place by the country’s filmmaking unions, making for a far more efficient production. Like I said earlier: If there’s one thing Eastwood values as a director, it’s being able to make his movies with as little muss or fuss as possible.
It was all Green’s doing, really. Speaking to Esquire, Green explained that he had traveled to Canada to serve as the cinematographer on a non-Eastwood project (which he did not name) when an official from one of the country’s filmmaking unions asked him when Eastwood was going to make a movie in Canada. “Never,” Green told them, “because he can’t bring his family.” When the confused official asked how big Eastwood’s family was, Green clarified it was “50 or 60 people who go everywhere he goes.” Getting the drift, the official made a deal with Green: Whichever crew members could prove they had worked with Eastwood on more than five of his films could come to Canada to make a movie with him, getting around the union’s rules. “Well, that was everybody,” Green said, “and that’s how ‘Unforgiven’ came to be shot in Canada.”
Green would continue to serve as Eastwood’s cinematographer after “Unforgiven” until “Space Cowboys” in 2000. Eastwood would thusly promote Tom Stern, a gaffer on his films since 1982’s “Honkytonk Man,” to fill Green’s old spot for the next 20 years. Let it never be said Eastwood doesn’t reward his “family” for their loyalty.
Canada Let Clint Eastwood Skirt The Law To Film Unforgiven
Warner Bros. Pictures
In 2012, two decades after earning his first and, to date, only Oscar nod for Best Cinematography on “Unforgiven,” Green spoke to Esquire about working with Eastwood and being a member of his movie “family.” Turns out, it was actually Eastwood’s commitment to his “family” that led to him filming much of “Unforgiven” in Alberta, Canada.
[In Vin Diesel voice] I don’t have friends, I got family
“Unforgiven” is a somber, contemplative revisionist Western that takes place in small-town Wyoming and the open plains of Kansas circa 1881. Why then did Clint Eastwood and Jack N. Green shoot the picture in Alberta? Well, it’s because Canada was willing to let the duo skirt the rules put in place by the country’s filmmaking unions, making for a far more efficient production. Like I said earlier: If there’s one thing Eastwood values as a director, it’s being able to make his movies with as little muss or fuss as possible.
It was all Green’s doing, really. Speaking to Esquire, Green explained that he had traveled to Canada to serve as the cinematographer on a non-Eastwood project (which he did not name) when an official from one of the country’s filmmaking unions asked him when Eastwood was going to make a movie in Canada. “Never,” Green told them, “because he can’t bring his family.” When the confused official asked how big Eastwood’s family was, Green clarified it was “50 or 60 people who go everywhere he goes.” Getting the drift, the official made a deal with Green: Whichever crew members could prove they had worked with Eastwood on more than five of his films could come to Canada to make a movie with him, getting around the union’s rules. “Well, that was everybody,” Green said, “and that’s how ‘Unforgiven’ came to be shot in Canada.”
Green would continue to serve as Eastwood’s cinematographer after “Unforgiven” until “Space Cowboys” in 2000. Eastwood would thusly promote Tom Stern, a gaffer on his films since 1982’s “Honkytonk Man,” to fill Green’s old spot for the next 20 years. Let it never be said Eastwood doesn’t reward his “family” for their loyalty.
It was all Green’s doing, really. Speaking to Esquire, Green explained that he had traveled to Canada to serve as the cinematographer on a non-Eastwood project (which he did not name) when an official from one of the country’s filmmaking unions asked him when Eastwood was going to make a movie in Canada. “Never,” Green told them, “because he can’t bring his family.” When the confused official asked how big Eastwood’s family was, Green clarified it was “50 or 60 people who go everywhere he goes.”
Getting the drift, the official made a deal with Green: Whichever crew members could prove they had worked with Eastwood on more than five of his films could come to Canada to make a movie with him, getting around the union’s rules. “Well, that was everybody,” Green said, “and that’s how ‘Unforgiven’ came to be shot in Canada.”
Green would continue to serve as Eastwood’s cinematographer after “Unforgiven” until “Space Cowboys” in 2000. Eastwood would thusly promote Tom Stern, a gaffer on his films since 1982’s “Honkytonk Man,” to fill Green’s old spot for the next 20 years. Let it never be said Eastwood doesn’t reward his “family” for their loyalty.
